A few days ago, Xiamen Grace Solar Technology smoothly reached the rooftop PV grid station cooperation project with American customers. The project locates on the tile rooftop of an industrial plant, covering an area of about 8000 square meters. Grace Solar GS tile roof system solution will be applied to the whole project which with the installed capacity of 1.2MW. It is reported that this project will have two advantages: it can save 6%~8% of the electricity price, and keep it for about 25 years.

Saint-Gobain, represented by Jean-Pierre Floris, Senior Vice-President and President of the Innovative Materials Sector has signed an M.O.U. with HRH Prince Faisal Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to set up a high-tech company in the solar energy sector in Saudi Arabia. The signing ceremony was held in Torgau, Germany, where Saint-Gobain's Avancis affiliate operates one of the world's modern thin film Photovoltaic (PV) module plants.

Sunways AG has received its largest individual order for building-integrated photovoltaics to date: the Konstanz-based photovoltaics specialist is supplying semitransparent design solar cells for the new US head office of pharmaceutical company Novartis. The new construction in East Hanover, New Jersey, will see the installation of the largest transparent photovoltaic roof in the USA. Rafael Viñoly from New York designed an open and transparent office building for the company's oncology division.

Solar Frontier will suspend production at its 60MW "MP2" solar module manufacturing plant as its 900MW flagship Kunitomi plant continues to demonstrate improved performance. The company is evaluating the role MP2 will play in opportunities to produce specialized solar products currently in development. The Kunitomi plant commenced commercial production in February 2011 and all lines at the plant were operational by July 2011. The advanced plant now produces CIS solar modules with efficiencies in the 13-14% range, delivering more kilowatt-hours per Watt than competing technologies like crystalline silicon modules. Solar Frontier panels are designed to offer more reliable and lower cost of electricity than competing technologies like crystalline silicon panels.

Canadian Solar Inc. today announced that its subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., has expanded its relationship with Penn Energy Renewables Ltd. ("Penn Energy") with an additional 10MW (AC) turnkey engineering, procurement and construction ("EPC") contract and operations and maintenance ("OM") agreement for the construction and operation of a solar power project in Ontario by Canadian Solar for Penn Energy. This latest agreement brings the total EPC and OM agreement between the two companies to 28.7MW (AC). Construction of the newest solar power plant will begin in the fourth quarter of 2012, with the facility expected to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2013. Construction on the previously announced solar power projects, representing 18.7MW (AC), is underway and expected to be fully operational by the summer of 2013.

First Solar, Inc. and PT. Pembangkitan Jawa Bali Services (PJB Services) of Indonesia today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on the delivery of 100 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale solar power plants in Indonesia in order to address the growing energy demand in the country.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited today announced the formal establishment of its regional headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. The objective of this strategic move is to incorporate the Company's core European business activities within the framework of the newly founded Yingli Green Energy International AG. For the purpose of centralising key decision-making functions Yingli Green Energy has chosen the Swiss city of Zurich.